The problem of air pollution across the world is becoming increasingly serious. The air is less fresh and clear, and more people choose to wear dust masks when going outside because of heavy smog.

Air pollution is caused mainly by companies, daily activities, and transportation. In terms of companies, many factories emit large amounts of destructive and poisonous by-products. For example, some factories produce sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxide, and various organic compounds that influence the air pollution index. People can get hurt if they keep breathing polluted air because small particles may go into and stick to the respiratory tract and lungs and their long-term storage can lead to rhinitis and bronchitis as well as gastric carcinoma. Sulfur dioxide may dissolve in air and form acid rain, which can corrode buildings as well as people’s skin. The top 10 most polluted cities of the world include Taiyuan, Milan, Beijing, Urumqi, Mexico, Lanzhou, Chongqing, Jinan, Shijiazhuang, and Tehran, which indicates that no one is immune from air pollution.

Air pollution is produced in daily life, and one major cause of it is the increasing population. More people means more carbon dioxide, which is bad for the air they breathe. More trees have to be cut to meet people’s demand (e.g., chopsticks and furniture). Therefore, there are fewer trees to absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen. In addition, to stay warm, people burn coal, which contains sulfur. This causes sulfur oxide to to be released into the air as pollution. That is, burning products huge amounts of pollution in the forms of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. Studies have examined smoking and breathing under bad air and found that a carton of cigarettes a day means breathing dirty air for 720 minutes a day. That is, one cigarette is 36 minutes of bad air.

Finally, transportation is a major cause of air pollution. An increase in the number of people increases the number of vehicles on the road. More people are using personal vehicles or taking taxi instead of buses or other forms of mass transportation. This may be a more comfortable alternative, it dramatically increases air pollution.

These sources of polluted air have forced to spend more time at home instead of going out. Should we not do something about air pollution so that people do not feel trapped in their own homes? 

Jiayi Wu

Is the “Asian Diet” Inherently Healthier?

When you got to visit Asia, it’s easy to catch your attention when you see skinny people unlike with an average American. The Asian and American diets are different because Asians tend to have slimier and healthier bodies than Americans who are experiencing overweight.  Knowing the differences of Americans and Asians when it comes to their diets, we may be able to know why and how Asian cuisine can convert into something which helps to keep and improve people’s health and well-being.

White rice is the principal element in Asian diet. Based on Oldways, rice supplies the calories which have a percentage of 25 to 80 in everyday consumption of food for 2.7 billion Asian people. It is normally consumed with each meal, in the form of extremely cooked, steamy rice. The author Jason Bussel also discussed the benefit of white rice which is relatively unlikely to cause an allergic reaction easily adjustable highly ordinary of the grains. Since the white rice easily breaks down and absorbed in the body, it can be consumed regularly. However, the principal element of American diet is white bread which can lead them to obesity because of the excessive consumption of calories.

In addition, soymilk is also part of Asian diet which is rich in iron, calcium and protein. It has similar quantity of protein found in cow’s milk, with less saturated amount and without cholesterol. Aside from that, Asian also includes green tea as part of their healthy diet which is good for the heart and protects the body against intestinal diseases and cancers.

Finally, Asian diet has lesser amount of carbohydrates and cholesterol. Sweet desserts are seldom consumes and they prefer fruits as a replacement.

J. Kung

It seems so common for people to organize the bookshelf and find that many of the old books are gathering dust on the shelf quietly. For most of us, the value of a book fades away as you finish reading it. However, a book carrying the author’s sweat and heart deserves more than filling the bookshelf. Through some simple actions, the books’ value can be extended deeply. Donating books to children who don’t have books to read is a good option.

Offering books to the needy is really accessible in that many organizations hold events to facilitate donating. If you are a student, participating in the book donating activity held by most schools annually can be the first choice. You just select books which you thinks is helpful and bring them to schools. Staff at school will make sure books are delivered to the hands of new owners. If you miss the activities for any reason, you can also find similar organizations on the internet, such as the library-project covering 26 cities and provinces in China and the Room to Read which helps children, especially girls to form libraries in Vietnam and China. You just have to send books to the department of those organizations in your city.

The donation can be very meaningful, especially in China where educational opportunities are unevenly distributed. Among most charitable activities in China, poor children need of necessity is still their focus. The government has spent over 2 billion dollar to provide over 23 million students in the distant region free nutrient lunch since the fall of 2011. Some NPO also help in gathering cloths and providing health care for countryside students. However, those students’ need for spiritual enjoyment is often been ignored. As teenagers like us, students in poor villages deserve equal satisfaction we enjoy. Life for them should be something more than surviving under the help of others. Books which function as both a way of entertainment and a tool to break the cycle of poverty are highly desired. However, since the attention and help is still limited, students in countryside even do not have enough textbooks, while students in big cities are using electronic devices to replace their old books. As a child born in countryside, it is much harder to understand the context of same subject we learned due to the lack of educational books and basic knowledge we are exposed to through various educational opportunities available in cities. Moreover, this hardship sometimes may block them from getting higher education. To resolve this problem millions of students are facing, we can start by donating our used books. Since most beneficiaries are at our ages or younger than us. Books we find interesting can be particularly useful for them. Some educational books we read can introduce them to a brand new discipline in a more comprehensible way and minimize their anxiety of studying new subjects that they never heard of before. The knowledge they learned also offer them a way to break the physical barriers and connect with people outside their hometown.

Beside the advantage of helping students who suffer from poor education condition, donating books also benefits in saving paper. A well-used book can be almost new after being read by its first owner. Donating the book does not only offer another person a chance to get free knowledge, but also save some paper from being wasted, in the long run, protecting the environment.

Based on the feasibility and significance of book donation, the responsibility as teenagers highly encourages us to treasure our books and maximize their values. Donating books to children in the poor region can be the best choice to implement our responsibility. 

X.Hu

Morning Calm (2015 Korea)

by

K. Song